For the Democratic Party, the February 2024 special election to fill former Rep. George Santos’ seat on Long Island began with repairing old political wounds from the 2022 elections.

Former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who held the House seat for six years, wants his old job back. And he needs the backing of local Democrats and symbolic backing of higher ranking Democrats to do it.

Suozzi traveled to Albany on Tuesday to meet with his former rival: Gov. Kathy Hochul. He challenged the governor in the Democratic primary in 2022, only to badly lose the primary to Hochul and lose his vacant House seat to the Republicans in the midterm elections later that year.  

During the 2022 primary, Suozzi routinely accused Hochul and her husband of corruption and heavily criticized her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the height of the omicron surge.

“She’s created a culture of corruption with secretive meetings, pay-to-play, abuse of state aircraft and insider deals that resulted in the billion-dollar tax giveaway for the Buffalo Bills," Suozzi said in April 2022. 

But this week, Hochul appeared to move past last year’s primary battle, in a show of strength, and forgiveness.

A Hochul campaign spokesperson said late Tuesday that the governor will support Suozzi’s bid. Hochul said Wednesday in New York City that Suozzi apologized for his corruption characterization.

Hochul has said she has been in talks with county party leaders and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about who Democrats should choose. 

“There were other candidates to consider. Everyone knew that I could look at a variety of candidates and I was looking for someone I thought could win, but also that was an important conversation to clear the air in one respect, so it was in [Suozzi’s] interest to make sure the conversation went well,” Hochul said.

Suozzi, for his part, said in a statement to NY1: “We had a good meeting and cleared the air, and I appreciate her making the time. At a time of strong political division, I offered to be another moderate voice as the governor works to solve problems and make progress.”

The race to succeed Santos, who was expelled last Friday following a scandal-plagued tenure in Congress and a looming criminal trial, is scheduled to take place on Feb. 13. It was already expected to be an expensive and high-profile contest given the razor-thin Republican majority in the House and given that both parties will want a political barometer of sorts going into a presidential election year.

Coupled with Wednesday’s announcement that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will also leave Congress at the end of this year means the Republican majority will shrink even more by the time this special election takes place, further raising the stakes for both political parties.

Queens and Nassau County Democrats will announce their pick to run for the special election in New York's 3rd Congressional District later this week. 

Political consultants argue Suozzi has the best chance to beat a Republican. But political observers weren’t sure if Hochul would make it hard for him. 

“For me, the most important responsibility we have here in New York state, and I say this as the leader of the Democratic Party in New York, our responsibility is to take back the House of Representatives from the from the Santos-type Republican Party and to make sure that Hakeem Jeffries is the speaker.” Hochul said. “And I wanted to see polling, I wanted to talk about a strategy, I wanted to know what his chance of success would be because we have to put forth the strongest candidate in that district to start bringing back New York state, bringing back more people who are elected who are Democrats.”

The 3rd Congressional District was held by Democrats for 10 years. While President Joe Biden won the district in 2020, Republicans have made momentous gains on Long Island over the last few election cycles, recently winning all four House seats and both county executive posts there.

In New York, the nominees for special elections for U.S. House seats are determined by local political parties. Suozzi announced his campaign for the seat before Santos was expelled. Also vying for the Democratic nod is former state Sen. Anna Kaplan.

On the Republican side, potential names include retired police detective Mike Sapraicone, Air Force veteran Kellen Curry and Nassau County legislator Mazi Pilip.

National Democrats want to make up for their midterm losses, and hope Suozzi is the answer.

“They are to some degree burying that hatchet — and that is how you perform if you want to assume a leadership role," Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said of Hochul and Suozzi's meeting. 

“He’s certainly a known figure, and to some degree better known than the governor, because he’s been so active in Long Island politics for such a long time," Miringoff added. "I think he’s in this because he’s a known entity unto himself, and doesn’t want any friction in the Democratic party which might discourage voters from viewing him favorably for the special.”

They’re also eyeing possible swing seats in the Hudson Valley and upstate that could replace newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson with Jefferies. 

Republicans argue Suozzi could be hurt by issues like the economy and the migrant crisis. 

“Nassau County and Suffolk County went strongly red," said Gerard Kassar, chairman of the New York State Conservative Party. "There’s very few Democratic officials left, and I think some of that was a response to Albany's leadership, or lack of leadership.”

But looking at the big picture, Kassar said: "When it comes to resources, and when it comes to how Washington and other places look at it, it’s always better to have the governor on your side."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.